Money was tight in 2023 and It’s been a long time since I bought myself a new tech gadget. I’ve been wanting a steam deck for a long time. So after the Christmas shopping was done for everyone else I took the plunge and ordered a Steam Deck OLED. After having it for a few weeks I have to say that I have no regrets.
What I Like about the Steam Deck
It’s a Linux computer
This might not be a big deal for everyone else but for me it was a bonus. I already run Linux daily. So its really cool to have a powerful Linux computer in this portable form factor.
With a wireless keyboard and mouse I could almost carry this around instead of a laptop.
Open Platform and Freedom
Valve did not lock down their console like every other console on the market. I can install games that are not part of Steam or otherwise do whatever I want with the steam deck.
I installed a few games I had on GOG and they work perfect. Then I installed a web browser to surf the web.
Heck there are even people who have installed Microsoft Windows on their steam deck. I don’t know why you would want to do that but Valve is not trying to stop you.
I still have my PC game library
Also unlike other consoles when I get a steam deck I don’t have to buy my games a second time to play them on this platform.
There might be some windows only games that have trouble. But since I’m already on Linux any game I play that runs on Linux will most likely run on the deck.
I can do PC gaming away from my desktop
I spend all day in front of a computer for work. So I’ve really liked being able to sit on the couch with my wife and play the steam deck while she watches boring stuff on TV. I guess it kind of sounds funny. But we are spending more time together this way then if I was in another room playing on the PC.
Expanded Storage is easy with SD cards
The last portable game system I had was a PSVita and it was so annoying that they did not use standard SD cards.
The steam deck not only uses SD cards but it lets you move your games to and from SD card storage easy. I think the Nintendo switch will do that now too but as far as I know that has never been a common thing.
So at the suggestion of a friend I picked up a Samsung EVO Select 512GB SD card for my steam deck. It has worked like a champ.
Steam Deck OLED Battery Life
I have had the battery last as long as 12 hours for me in pixel art games. In more demanding games it can drop to a few hours. But for me if I’m playing a high demanding game most likely I will be on my desktop anyway. So I’m happy with the battery life.
What I Don’t Like
My hands hurt after a while
I’m a PC gamer so maybe i’m just not used to holding a controller. Also I did not ease into using it. Instead I played with it for hours on the first day.
So I can’t say for sure that this is the steam decks fault. Its probably not. But my hands have felt a bit sore.
Update: This is no longer a problem. My hands just had to get used to holding a controller I guess.
Needs more USB ports
I wish it had more USB ports but it only comes with one. I would like the option to be able to plug in more then one thing without using a USB hub.
I also would like some redundancy. In the event I some how damage a USB port it would be nice if there was a second.
SteamOS Software Repository is limited
I know SteamOS is not really meant to be a normal Linux distro but it would be nice if the software repository had more. Maybe this will come in time.
I wanted to install subversion to the steam deck so I could pull and commit things from my SVN server. But for now subversion is not an option.
I would buy it again
Even with some of the things I don’t like I still love the steam deck and I would buy it again. It’s the coolest device I have got in years.
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